Prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis among women with vitamin D deficiency

I.V. Pankiv

Abstract

Background.Vitamin D and its metabolites play an important clinical role due to their interrelationship with calcium homeostasis and bone metabolism. Vitamin D has major effects on nearly all cells of the immune system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the association between autoimmune thyroiditis (AT) and vitamin D deficiency. Materials and methods. A total of 376 female subjects were included, of whom 52 and 324 participants were healthy or had vitamin D deficiency, respectively. Serum vitamin D levels, parathyroid hormone concentrations, thyroid hormone levels and thyroid auto-antibodies were measured in all subjects. Results. Demographic characteristics of participants were not significantly different between the control and study groups (p > 0.05). Incidence of AT appeared to be significantly higher in the group of women with vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency. A level of thyroid auto-antibodies was in reliable correlation with maintenance of vitamin D. Conclusions. AT was found to be associated with vitamin D deficiency in female patients in this study.